Category: San Francisco Giants

He was a Giant? Frank Johnson – OF/IF – 1966-71 – # 20; By Tony the Tiger Hayes

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Former San Francisco Giants infielder/Outfielder Frank Johnson (photo from 1971 topps baseball)

By Tony the Tiger Hayes

Frank Sinatra was rarely seen out out and about sans imposing Paisan Jilly Rizzo lurking

Elvis didn’t venture two steps outside the gates of Graceland without the Memphis Mafia.

And NBA player and full drag aficionado Dennis Rodman made sure good buddy Jack Haley always had a seat at the end if the bench wherever his NBA travels took him.

Since the beginning of recorded time, bigwigs and heartthrobs have surrendered themselves yes men and back slappers.

Hey who doesn’t enjoy being told how great they are.

But Willie Mays was one baseball superstar who didnt girdle himself with toadies and personal trainers as his Godson Barry Bonds would infamously do years later during his storied years with the Orange & Black.

Willie didn’t hang with Hollywood glitterati or spend his nights tripping the light fantastic – he was actually somewhat of a loner.

But Mays was not without a Candlestick cortege. While Mays didnt often publicly talk about his charitable work – as writer John Shea documented in his New York Times best seller “24” – Willie received as much joy working with and assisting children and young people as he did making basket catches and sending Russ Hodges into a frenzy with his “bye, bye baby!” round tripper calls.

And while Mays did not surround himself with a classic entourage he did have a Candlestick Park crew of young outfielders – particularly those of black American heritage – he liked to dote on during his long Orange & Black career.

Young fly chasing prospects such Bernie Williams, Ollie Brown, Garry Maddox, Ken Henderson, Gary Matthews, George Foster all few under Mays tutelage.

Another was the now largely forgotten El Paso, Texas born and raised outfielder named Frank Herbert Johnson.

Though his fanfare never exceeded the level of an inaudible whisper, Johnson actually spent six straight seasons in the big leagues alongside Willie and the Orange & Black.

While we would never label Johnson a Hangers-On, from 1966-71, he certainly did a lot of hanging around for the Giants.

Despite seeing big league action every season from 1966-71 never rose above benchwarmer status.

Giants were a well oiled machine in the 1960s with a stacked lineup and unforgiving pitching staff. There just wasn’t many opportunities for Frank to break into the Giants starting lineup.

What kept the club coming back to Johnson was his unselfish attitude and willingness to play multiple positions. Though primarily an outfielder, Johnson made close to 50 starts at third base for San Francisco. As a Giant he logged time at each position, sans pitcher and catcher.

Though his overall numbers don’t jump out at you – the handsome journey man contributed enough in the margins to make it and did his share to make the Giants one of game’s top winning clubs and highest drawing club’s of the 1960s.

Why Was He a Giant?

Giants super-scout George Genovese discovered and signed Johnson out El Paso’s Bel Air High School in June of 1961. The 18-year-old – who was still a semester shy of graduation- had just led the Highlanders to the El Paso city championship as a dual school boy version of Shohei Ohtani. A prep third baseman and pitcher, Johnson batted .431 and posted a mound ledger of 8-3 the year he turned pro.

In his first year of pro ball, Johnson immediately opened eyes, tattooing Appalachian League pitching for a .314 average in 55 games. Of the 44 youngsters who suited up for the Salem Rebels during that 1962 season, Johnson was the only one blessed to make it to the majors.

Johnson continued to stroke the ball well over the next few seasons in the Giants system and by 1966 he had reached the Triple -AAA Phoenix Giants. No longer an inexperienced pro, the 23-year-old became the cactus Giants, most viable threats, batting .308 while competing for playing time with numerous future big league players.

Meanwhile up north at the home office at Candlestick Park, the Giants were rampaging through the ‘66 National League season.

On September 1, with rosters allowed to expand to 40 men, the Giants sat atop the NL, tied with Pittsburgh at 78-56.

A week later Johnson got the call to to the bigs and in his debut game with the Orange & Black, the rookie won a key game, driving home Willie Mays with his first Major League hit against none other than the rival Los Angeles Dodgers (9/7/66).

Tied 2-2 going to the top of the 12th at LA, Dodgers reliever Joe Moeller recorded two easy outs. With Mays due up next representing the possible winning run, Dodgers manager Walter Alston made the call to intentionally walk the fabulous Willie to get to Johnson after Moeller ran a 3-0 count to Mays.

Considering it was Johnson’s debut game, and the youngster had struck out in the 10th inning with Mays on base in his first big league at-bat, Alston considered the free pass a no-doubt decision.

But if Uncle Walt thought Johnson’s knees might be knocking in a late game situation, he was dead wrong.

Johnson, ram-rodded a line drive to right field and Mays – aided by a Dodger error scored all the way fro first.

“I was a little nervous,” Johnson admitted later in the visiting clubhouse between bites of a hot dog. “But it was just another ball game. I’d faced Moeller at Spokane so I knew a little bit about him.”

With the 3-2 win that night, the Giants sat a half game back of the Pirates.

Hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, Giants manager Herman Franks wrote Johnson’s name into the lineup several times over the next week.

In his first major league start Franks even shifted Mays, hampered by a groin pull, to right field and had Johnson play center field vs. the visiting Cubs (9/10/66). Johnson swatted a pair of hits but the Giants lost 12-3 in the Saturday matinee.

The Dodgers would eventually storm back to win the division-less NL, with San Francisco finishing in second place 1.5 games.

Despite the early promise, Johnson never could secure a regular spot in the Giants lineup.

Over the next five seasons he would shuttle between Phoenix and San Francisco. Johnson’s best campaign came in 1970 when he batted a career big league high of .273, with 3 home runs and 31 RBI in 67 games for San Francisco.

Johnson’s final Major League game came in June of 1971. He batted into a force out as a pinch batter in a 5-1 road win vs. the Mets (6/12/71).

After leaving the Giants organization after 1971 season, Johnson played a year in Japan with the Lotte Orions.

Giant Footprint

Though many players – including of course Willie Mays – played in at least six consecutive seasons with San Francisco.

And many have spent their entire big league careers exclusively with the Giants, only a handful of athletes played in six straight seasons with SF without never playing in the bigs with another club.

Those players are RHP Matt Cain, SS Brandon Crawford, C Mike Sadek, RHP Rich Robertson, IF Jimmy Davenport, C Buster Posey and… Frank Johnson.

Guardians Freeman two run sixth inning single key to win over Giants 3-1 at Oracle Park

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Cleveland Guardians’ Tyler Freeman reacts after being called out on strikes against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Sep 12, 2023 (AP News photo)

Cleveland (69-77). 100 002 000 – 3. 4. 0

San Francisco (74-71) 000 010 000. – 1. 6. 1

Time: 2:17

Attendance: 23,541

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–If the baseball gods played hunches the way lottery players do, today would have been an auspicious one for the Giants. Sean Manaea, the one time front line starter for the one time talent laden Oakland Athletics, was on the mound in a rare start for a San Francisco team searching to extend its winning streak. Manaea’s numbers at game time? 5-5, with an ERA of exactly five earned runs per nine innings.

Tuesday he started out poorly but got his act together and didn’t let a runner reach base after getting the final out in the first and a one out single by José Ramírez in the sixth.

Manaea left with the bases loaded and two outs in that frame finished up the inning without allowing a run if it weren’t for LaMonte Wade’s fielding error on ground ball to first by Kole Calhoun. But Wade made his error, and Ryan Walker replaced Manaea and gave up a bases clearing single, with both runs charged to Manaea.

The starter ended up allowing three runs, two of them unearned and posthumous. He walked two, plunked one batter and struck out five. 56 of his 80 pitches were counted as strikes. Manaea didn’t deserve to lose this game, but he did, and his record now reads 5-6, 4.80.

The final 3-1 defeat left the home team only 1.5 games behind in the race for the last NL Wild Card spot, but its elimination number has dwindled to 16 with 17 games left in the season..

Cal Quantrill, who took the mound for Cleveland, also came with ugly season’s numbers, 2-6, 5.70. Unlike Manaea, who’d been used mainly in relief this year, the Guardian righty had started all of his 15 previous games. In his most recent attempt, hurled six scoreless innings against the Angels in Anaheim but went home with a no decision in a 3-2 loss last Thursday. He’s been on the injured list twice this year, which may explain to some extent his poor performances.

Manaea certainly pitched well tonight, going six innings and yielding only one run, which was earned, on five hits and three walks, while striking out two. He threw 86 pitches, 65 for strikes on the way to his third win against six losses while reducing his ERA to 5.40.

The Guardians got a jump start over a wild Manaea in the opening frame, converting a single, a pair of walks, and two failed double play conversions into a one run lead before the Giants took their first swing at the plate. It took him 33 pitches to do it, but Manaea finally caught Tyler Freeman looking at a called third strike to stop the bleeding then and there.

The Giants comeback attempt was foiled in their half of the third when Brandon Crawford fell victim to The Curse of the Leadoff double and died on third, which he’d reached on a weak ground out by Luis Matos.

Quantrill continued to thwart the Giant bats, and it wasn’t until there was one out in the fifth that San Francisco managed to get its second hit, but it was a significant one. Blake Sabol launched his 13th home run of the year, a 417 foot blast to right center that left his bat at 107.6mph. It came off an 89.2mph cut fast ball and tied the score at one all.

Cleveland took the lead back in their half of the sixth on Ramírez’s single, after which Josh Naylor forced him out at second, Manaea hit David Frey with a pitch. Then came Wade’s fatidic error that brought Ryan Walker out of the bull pen. Tyler Freeman tagged Walker for a single that drove in Naylor and Frey and put the visitors ahead, 3-1.

Walker got the third out in the sixth, notched a K and surrendered a single before giving way to Scott Alexander in the seventh.

Reynaldo López was on the mound for Cleveland when the crowd stopped singing “Take Me Out to the Bal Game.” He allowed a walk but nothing more and gave way to Trevor Stephan, who shut the Giants down, yielding only a single to Flores.

John Brebbia stifled the Guardians in the top of the ninth.

Cleveland sent in Emmanuel Chase, last night’s losing pitcher, to try to shut the Giants down for good in the bottom of the ninth. He did it, in 1,2,3 order.

The antagonists return tomorrow, Wednesday, at 12:45 for the rubber game of the series. The Giants will send heralded rookie Kyle Harrison (1-1, 4.87) against Cleveland’s Logan Allen (7-7, 3.68)

Giants Wade Jr gets walk off hit scoring Sabol in tenth in 5-4 win; SF remains 1.5 back in NL Wild Card chase

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Francisco Giants LaMonte Wade is congratulated by teammates for his walk off single that scored Blake Sabol to defeat the Cleveland Guardians in the bottom of the tenth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Mon Sep 11, 2023 (@SFGiants photo)

Cleveland (68-77). 002 000 100 1. – 4. 9. 0

San Francisco (74-70) 102 000 000 2 – 5 12. 3. (10 innings)

Time: 3:21

Attendance: 20,705

Monday, September 11, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants needed to win tonight’s battle with the AL Central second place Cleveland Guardians. To give you an idea of how different that division’s from the NL West, the Guardians came to town with a record of 68-76, while the Giants’. game time 73-70 had them in third. It was a long, hard fight, but the orange and black prevailed, 5-4, in ten mostly action packed innings.

San Francisco sent one half of the Cobb-Webb combo to the mound tonight. Alex Cobb, who’s been battling leg ligament problems recently and was thrown off his normal pace by his 103 pitch 5-2 loss to the Braves in Atlanta on August 18. The 35 year old veteran took the mound at 7-6. 3.74 but had gone1-3, 5.87 since August 1.

Cobb didn’t pitch long tonight, but he pitched well, throwing 79 pitches, 47 for strikes, to 20 batters over five innings. In that span, he allowed two runs, both unearned, on three hits, one of them a four bagger, and a walk while striking out two. W 8-6, 3.62. He had to settle for a no decision that lowered his ERA to 3.62.

Cleveland’s starter was the right handed rookie Gavin Williams, Cobb’s junior by 11 years. He was Cleveland’s first round choice in the 2021 draft and, now, two years later, he came to the city by the bay with a record of 2-5, 3.35 for a decidedly mediocre team. He went six innings tonight and, like Cobb, wasn’t involved in the decision.

The youngster threw 93 pitches, 40 of which were balls, to 26 batters over six frames, over which he gave up three runs, all earned, on five hits, one for the distance, and four walks, He struck out two and left with an earned run average of 3.43.

Mike Yastrzemski, leading off for the third straight game, which coincides with San Francisco’s current winning streak, sent Williams’ second offering, a 94.6mph four seamer 368 feet deep into right field to get the Giants’ off on the right foot. It was his 14th home run and 39th run batted in of the season.

Cleveland got that run back and another to go with it on two unearned runs in the top of the third. José Ramírez sent a two out line drive up the middle that just missed hitting Cobb. Crawford let the ball go by him into center for an error. Josh Naylor followed that with an authoritative two run blast over the wall in right, and the Guardians were up, 2-1.

That didn’t last long. With one down in the home third, Estrada singled to left, stole second and, after a walk to Haniger, scored on Pedeerson’s single to right, which sent Haniger to third. Guardian first sacker Josh Naylor made a beautiful catch of Davis’s hard bouncer or an unassisted put out that allowed Haniger to cross the plate with the tally that put the Giants ahead once more, at 3-2.

The left handed Rogers, Taylor, relieved Cobb for the sixth inning and set the heart of the Cleveland order down in order on seven pitches. After striking out Will Brennan at the start of the seventh, Rogers surrendered a sharp single to left to Bo Naylor and exited the game, replaced by John Brebbia, making his second appearance since returning from the IL on September 5. Naylor, stole second on him, the Cleveland catcher’s third stolen base in three attempts.

Myles Straw went down looking at a called third strike, and José Tena drew a walk that set the stage for Steven Kwan’s game tying single to right center. Tena motored to third, and Brebbia walked to the dugout, replaced by the right handed Rogers twin, Tyler, the submariner. Josh Naylor lashed a hard drive towards first; Wade made a magnificent grab of it and beat Naylor to the bag.

So the game was tied at three when Sam Hentges replaced Williams after the seventh inning stretch. The first two Giants he faced were pinch hitters, Austin Slater and Wilmer Flores, respectively. The two right handed hitters touched the lefty receiver for singles that put runners on the corners.

Hetges then fanned Estrada and was removed for a righty, Reynaldo López, who got Haniger to ground to Ramírez at third, who threw Slater out at home. Pederson got a single to deep second base to load the bases before the pinch hitting Blake Sabol popped out to third. López had preserved the tie; the Giants left the bases loaded.

Rogers wasn’t as effective in the eighth as he’d been in the seventh. Kole Calhoun hit a one out single to right; Tyler Freeman replaced him as a pinch runner. Giménez hit a grounder that Rogers fielded and then threw away. It was scored a hit with both Freeman advancing to third on Rogers’ throwing error. Giménez then stole second.

Will Brennan grounded back to the mound. This time Rogers threw accurately to Flores, now playing third, and Freeman was put out in a rundown, 1-5-2, with Brennan taking second. At this point, the Giants called on Camilo Doval, who retired Bo Naylor on a fly to right.

Matt Moore gave up a leadoff single to Sabol in the home eighth and then got past Matos and Crawford before Slater smacked a single to center that sent Moore to showers and brought Enyel De Los Santos in to face Flores. After working a full count, Flores flew out to the warning track in left. That made 10 men that the Giants had left on base.

It was Cleveland’s turn to miss opportunities in the top of the ninth, wasting a single, an intentional walk, and two passed balls to strand two runners in scoring position and sending us to the bottom of the inning with the score still knotted at three.

Where it stayed after De Los Santos pitched a 1,2,3 frame.

Luke Jackson faced Cleveland with Josh Naylor as the zombie runner and Freeman at the plate to open the tenth. Freeman tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but Jackson threw Naylor out at third. Freeman then stole second.

Giménez laced a single up the middle to put the Guardians ahead, 4-3 First base umpire Bruce Dreckman ruled that Estrada’s throw to first on Brennan’s grounder pulled Wade off the bag, but a review of the play overturned that call.

Nonetheless, Giménez took second on the play, the Giants issued an intentional pass to Bo Naylor, and Straw drew a base on balls to load the bases before Jackson fanned Tena for the final out.

It was do or die for San Francisco in their half of the tenth with Pederson placed on second and Sabol at bat. Sabol singled to right on the first offering from Emmanuel Close, the Guardian’s new pitcher. That tied the score again. Then he stole second and took third on a balk. Wade came through with a single to center center, and the Giants had gained a long, hard, victory.

Jackson, now 2-2, 3.14, was the winning pitcher. Close took the loss, his ninth against two wins. It was 11th blown save of the season.

So, where does this leave the Giants in the playoff chase? They’re in a dead tie with Miami at 74-70, 1-1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks for the last spot in the NL Wild Card race. Both teams. have an elimination number of 17 with 18 games left to play,

The probable starters for the game tomorrow, Tuesday, at 6:45 are Sean Manaea (5-5, 5.00) for the Giants and Cal Quantrill (2-6, 5.70) for the Guardians.

Three A’s pitchers hold Astros to three hits as Oakland wins opener of three-game series 4-0

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Oakland Athletics pitcher Ken Waldichuk throws against the Houston Astros during the third inning at Minute Field in Houston on Mon Sep 11, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s, behind great pitching by Mason Miller, Ken Waldichuk, and Trevor May, stopped the hard-hitting Houston Astros 4-0 to win the first game of the three-game series at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

A’s manager, Mark Kotsay, elected to use righty Mason Miller as the opener. Miller gave the A’s two innings, allowing only a single in the first inner. Miller kept the Astros scoreless in his two innings of work. Lefty Ken Waldichuk came into the game, and he was fantastic.

Without question, he had his finest performance of the season. Waldichuk pitched six innings and did not allow a hit. His only mistake was hitting Kyle Tucker with a pitch in the fourth inning. Waldichuk’s throw to first caught Tucker trying to steal.

The play went 1-3-6. Waldichuk was the winning pitcher. He is 3-7 for the season. Trevor May earned his 20th save. It took work as the Astros, limited to just one hit over the first eight innings, got singles by Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena to start the ninth. May got the dangerous Yordan Alvarez on a sharp line drive to deep right field. Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker were retired on fly balls to Esteury Ruiz.

The A’s offense hit three solo home runs. Brent Rooker blasted his 24th of the year in the top of the second to give the A’s all the runs they would need. Oakland scored their second run of the night in the fifth. With one out, third baseman Kevin Smith doubled.

Nick Allen singled to drive in Smith with the A’s second run. With two out in the seventh, Shea Langeliers continued his homer binge with an opposite-field homer to make it 3-0. For Shea, it was his 18th of the year. Ryan Noda led off the ninth with his 15th big fly to give the A’s a 4-0 cushion heading into the bottom of the ninth. May did the job and the A’s won 4-0.

Game Notes: With the win, the A’s are now 45-99 for the year. Oakland is 11-9 in their last 20 games. The Astros are now 82-63. The Texas Rangers won Monday night and are two games behind the Astros in the race for first place in the AL West.

The Astros came into the game with a home record of 37-35. With the loss, they are 37-36 at home. The A’s can continue to add to the Astros’ home woes Tuesday night. It will be challenging as the A’s will be facing the ace of the Houston staff, Justin Verlander.

The line score for Oakland was four runs, seven hits, and no errors. The line score for Houston was no runs, three hits, and no errors. The winning pitcher was Ken Waldichuk. Framber Valdez was the losing pitcher.

Tuesday’s game will start at 5:10 p.m.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Giants win improves NL Wild Card chances; SF now just 1.5 games back

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Francisco Giants’ Joc Pederson, right, celebrates with Mitch Haniger (17) after hitting a home run against the Colorado Rockies during the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Sep 10, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 The San Francisco Giants win over the Colorado Rockies cut the Giants games back to 1.5. The Giants with their win over the Rockies have swept the three game series 6-3 at Oracle Park. An huge improvement after getting swept in Chicago by the Cubs last week.

#2 The win gives the Giants their seventh sweep and first sweep since Jul 25-26 against the Oakland A’s in Oakland. The last time the Giants swept at home was back on May 15-17 at Oracle.

#3 Giants Keaton Winn picked up the win after pitching six innings, five hits, three runs, three earned runs and nine strikeouts. The nine strikeouts was Winn’s career high.

#4 The Rockies were swept for the 13th time this season and finished the season 1-5 against the Giants at Oracle Park. It’s least amount of win for the Rockies since 2003 when they went 1-9.

#5 The Giants open a three game series against the Cleveland Guardians at Oracle Park. Starting pitcher for the Guardians right hander Gavin Williams (2-5 ERA 3.34) the Giants starter Alex Cobb (7-6 ERA 3.74)for Monday night. First pitch 6:45pm PT.

Join Marko for the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants get complete three game sweep on Rockies with 6-3 win at Oracle; SF now 1.5 back in NL Wild Card race

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Francisco Giants pitcher Keaton Winn works against the Colorado Rockies during the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Sep 10, 2023 (AP News photo)

Colorado (51-91. 030 000 000 – 3. 6. 0

San Francisco (73-70). 023 010 00x – 6 11. 0

Time: 2:32

Attendance: 31,781

Sunday, September 10, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–The Peter Stuyvesant character in Kurt Weil’s “Knickerbocker Holiday” could have been talking about baseball when he sang that Broadway show’s biggest hit, “The September Song:” “Oh, the days dwindle down/To a precious few.”

It’s September and after the Giants’ 6-3 win over Colorado Colorado, the magic number for San Francisco’s elimination from the NL Wild Card race remains 18. That means that any combination of Giant losses and wins of whoever is in fourth place spells doom for the Giants, who can’t afford to lose more than a very few of the 19 games remaining in their schedule.

The Giants sent rookie Keaton Winn (0-2, 3.33 at game time) to the mound for his third big league start. The 25 year old righty missed the 2021 season while he recovered from Tommy John surgery. His arsenal includes a splitter (used 56.7% of the time), a four seam fastball (26.2%), sinker (15.7%), and slider (1.4%). He has mid 90s velocity on his fastball and slider.

He weathered a rough first inning, in which he gave up all three of the runs he would yield, runs which, by the way, were earned but not entirely his fault.

The Rockies managed to get five hits over Winn, but he didn’t give up any walks. He threw 80 pitches, of which only 18 were balls. The win improved his won-lost balance to 1-2 but raised his ERA to 3.55.

The visitors went with 26 year old right hander Peter Lambert, 3-6, 5.03 for the year and 6-13, 6.34 lifetime before today. He pitched six frames in his last appearance allowing all of the Diamondbacks’ runs in Arizona’s 4-2 win last Monday. All of those runs were earned.

Lambert wasn’t any more impressive this evening, lasting five frames during which he threw 91 pitches, 57 of which went into the books as strikes. He gave up half a dozen runs, and all of them were earned. Three of the eight hits he yielded were home runs. He chalked up two strikeouts and issued an equal number of walks. He was the losing pitcher and now has a record of 3-7, 5.36

Although San Francisco wasted a one out triple by Tairo Estrada in their half of the first, Colorado’s Hunter Goodman’s three bagger was the key to the three runs they scored in the top of the second. Elehuris Montero led off with a line drive that bounced off Winn’s leg for a single.

Nolan Jones laid down a perfect bunt short of third to make it runners on first and second when Goodman sent his shot into triples alley. He came home on Sean Bouchard’s sacrifice fly that Mike Yastrzemski hauled down with a nice catch at the right field wall. The Rockies now had an early 3-0 lead.

The home team got two of those runs back at their next turn at the plate. Lamonte Wade, Jr. led off with a single to right and went to third on Mitch Haniger’s double, also to right. After Bake Sabol flew out to left, Brandon Crawford’s bouncer to second drove in Wade and a single by Luis Matos to left center brought Haniger home.

Estrada’s 12th home run of the year, a 412 foot wallop to left center that led off the bottom of the third, followed, two outs later, by back to back dingers to left by Wade (his 15th HR of ’23) and Haniger (his sixth), put San Francisco on top, 5-3.

Joc Pederson, whose opposite field fly to the warning track in left ended the Giants’ threat in the first, pulled a 352 foot fly over the right field fence in the fifth. It was the 13th round tripper of the year for San Francisco’s designated hitter and added a run to the Giants’ lead, which now stood at 6-3.

Lambert finished up the inning and didn’t come out for the sixth, when southpaw Brent Suter relieved him and kept the orange and black off the board for the one inning he pitched before giving way to Nick Mears, who somehow managed to get through his frame without being scored on in spite of issuing a walk, allowing a hit, committing a balk, and letting pinch hitter Austin Slater send a drive to warning track in center.

Tyler Kinley gave up an automatic double to Yastrzemski in the Giants’ eighth, but that was all the offence that San Francisco could offer.

Ryan Walker took over for Winn at the start of the visitors’ seventh, set the side down in order, and ceded the ball to Tyler, the right handed submariner, Rogers for the eighth. His eight pitches were three less than it had taken Walker to put the Blake Street Bombers down in order. That meant it was a safe situation, and that meant it was Camilo Doval on the mound for the top half of the ninth. He had to face the heart of the Rockies’ batting order.

Doval fanned McMahon, their number three batter but yielded a double to cleanup man Montero. Jones, batting in the fifth slot, grounded out to second, which advanced Monero to third. But Doval was on top of things tonight and earned his 37th save of the year while bringing his ERA down to 2.98.

Estrada, Pederson, Wade, and Haniger had two hits apiece. Haniger’s pair consisted of a double and a homer; Estrada’s, a triple and a homer.

The Cleveland Guardians come to town Monday night and will send righty Gavin Williams (2-5, 3.34) against an as yet unannounced Giants hurler. First pitch 6:45pm PT.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Stephen Ruderman: Giants catch Rockies at a good time; Rockies pitching suffering; Giants hitting is back

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Francisco Giants Thairo Estrada gives thanks to the good Lord for his first inning home run against the Colorado Rockies at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sat Sep 9, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Stephen:

#1 The San Francisco Giants scored nine runs in back to back games against the Colorado Rockies by scores of 9-8 on Friday and 9-1 on Saturday. After getting swept in Chicago the bats have woke up.

#2 The back to back nine run games is the first time the Giants scored nine runs and 13 runs on May 24 and May 25, 2022.

#3 Mike Yastrzemski swung a hot bat on Saturday night going 4-5, scoring two runs, two RBIs, and two doubles. This is Yastrzemski’s ninth four hit game this season.

#4 Can the Giants turn it up? They’re a noted franchise of making September comebacks and they were remembered as the torture team coming back and making the playoffs. In 2010 they came back to make post season on the last day of the season and went onto win the World Series.

#5 The Rockies are going downhill right now, they’ve won three of their last 15 games starting Aug 20th. They the Major League high for allowing nine or more runs in their last 31 games. Colorado’s pitching is suffering and it showed in the last two games of this series.

Stephen Ruderman is a podcast contributor at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants bury Rockies 9-1 at Oracle; Giants 3 games out of NL Wild Card

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb works against the Colorado Rockies during the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sat Sep 9, 2023 (AP News photo)

Colorado (51-90). 000 000 100 – 1. 7. 0

San Francisco (72-70) 200 403 00x. – 9 13 0

Time: 2:44

Attendance: 34,290

Saturday, September 10, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants opened their three day weekend series last night with a come from behind 9-8 win over the Colorado Rockies and home plate umpire Shane Liversparger’s peripatetic strike zone. The Friday night heroics prevented the home team from falling into the ignominy of a losing record and helped to keep alive their hopes for a chance to cast the dice in the October crap shoot that is the wild card race with a convincing 9-1 victory at Oracle Park.

When the lights went on in the cool, gray city of love this Saturday morning, Arizona was leading the chase for the fourth and final spot, followed by Miami, Cincinnati, and San Francisco, one full game behind the Reds.

The good news is that the home team, at 71-70, trailed the Diamondbacks by only two and a half games. Their magic number for elimination was 19 with 21 games to go, which would require them to play much better than .500 ball. Their rotund defeat of the Rockies tonight gave hope that they might. just do that.

The Giants sent hard luck Logan Webb, arguably their best pitcher, to the mound. Webb, 9-12, 3.51 at game time. The veteran right hander had lost his last three starts and hadn’t won a game since going 8-2/3 innings in near no hitter against Texas on August 2. His record for the season when he threw the game’s first pitch at 6:05 was 9-12, 3.51.

Webb was sharp tonight, shutting the Rockies out for six innings on three hits and a walk. He struck out four of the 21 batters he faced and had a total pitch count of 93, only 32 of which were balls. He was the winning pitcher and now is 10-12, 3.40.

Chase Anderson, who also throws from the starboard side, was Bud Black’s choice to start for the Rox. The 35 year old veteran of 10 campaigns with seven big league teams, including this year and the Rockies has a recent history of shoulder troubles and brought a record of 0-4, 5.98 for 2023 and a lifetime mark of 58-54, 4.36 with him today.

Anderson lasted only 3-1/3, in which he gave up six runs, all earned, although two were posthumous. He issued two bases on balls and unleashed a wild pitch. The Giants got six hits off him, one of them a homer. He threw 82 pitches, 45 for strikes and was charged with the loss, dropping his record to 0-5 with an ERA of 6.49.

Mike Yastrzemski and Thairo Estrada started things off with a bang, and from a double barrelled shotgun at that, with back to back first pitch home runs, to straightaway center and over the 354 foot sign in left, respectively, in the top of the first. For Yastrzemski, the round tripper was number 14; Estrada’s was his 11th.

The Giants tacked on four more tallies in the fourth after JD Davis banged a leadoff two bagger against the brick wall in right, went to third on Wade’s single to right, and overcame The Curse of the Leadoff Double by scoring on a wild pitch to Joey Bart on which Wade advanced to second. After Bart walked, Brandon Crawford’s fly to deep right allowed Wade to move on to third.

He scored on Luis Matos’s line single to center that advanced Bart to second and sent Anderson to the showers, relieved by Gavin Hollowell, who yielded a line drive single to right by Yastrzemski that plated Bart. Rockies center fielder Nolan Jones dropped Estrada’s fly ball, but his throw forced Yastrzemski out at second while Matos scored the Giants’ final run of the frame. The orange and black now held a 6-0 lead.

Victor Vodnik, promoted from Albuquerque yesterday, made his major league debut in the home sixth and gave up his first hit (a leadoff single to Crawford), his first extra base hit (Yastrzemski’s RBI double off the Levi’s Landing sign), his first two runs (ditto for the first, and Yastrzemski scored the other on a single by Pederson), and notched his first two strikeouts (Matos and Estrada).

Nick Mears relieved him with two out and gave up and RBI single to Davis that brought in Flores, who’d reached first on an infield hit, for the third San ‘Francisco run of the inning, all of them charged to Vodnik.

Webb left a 9-0 lead for Ryan Walker to protect in the top of the seventh. Elías Díaz hit a leadoff double and, no curse here, moved to third on Jones’s grounder to second and then scored on Elehuris Montero’s sac fy to left. Scott Alexander took Walker’s place to hold Colorado scoreless in the eighth.

The Rockies’ first southpaw hurler of the night, Evan Justice, kept San Francisco off the board in the bottom of that frame.

Luke Jackson mopped up for San Francisco in Colorado’s last chance to make it close. They didn’t.

Arizona had defeated the Cubs, 3-2, at Wrigley before play began this evening in San Francisco, to the Giants didn’t lessen the 2-1/2 gap that separated them from the Diamondbacks, the current leaders. On the contrary, it reduced San Francisco’s elimination number to 18. Miami lost to the Phillies, 8-4, so the orange and black now trail the Marlins by one game.

The final encounter of the series between the Blake Street Bombers and the Bay Bridge brotherhood will start Sunday, afternoon at 5:05pm PT. Right hander Peter Lambert (3-6, 5.03) will pitch for Colorado against an as yet unannounced Giant hurler. This usually indicates that it will be a bullpen game.

Giants end six game losing streak with rollercoaster win over Rockies 9-8

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo courtesy of San Francisco Giants Twitter. J.D. Davis and Mitch Haniger celebrate Haniger’s home run against the Rockies on 9/8/23

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN FRANCISCO- The orange-and-black played a wild game against the Rockies that ended with SF on top by a final of 9-8.

First pitch was thrown at 7:17 p.m. with the game having an attendance of 33,448.

The best left-handed pitching prospect in the MLB Kyle Harrison was on the mound tonight for the Giants. While for the Rockies they went with veteran left-hander Ty Blach to start.

Harrison was coming off a rough outing against the Padres when he gave up six runs in a 6-1 loss.

When an offense is cold it can be important to get off to a good start and get runners on base. The Giants did just that getting five on base in just the first three innings. None of them reached home. Though they got close as Luis Matos was caught trying to make it all the way on a single by Wilmer Flores.

On the other side of the coin the Rockies got three runners home in the second with Hunter Goodman knocking two of those home on a triple.

The young ace for the orange-and-black despite the rough start was able to calm the waters and strike out five. In the sixth Harrison threw a slurve to Nolan Jones that ended up being crushed to center field making it 4-0 and ending the young pitchers night. Coming in to replace Harrison would be Jakob Junis who ended the sixth giving up no more runs.

Then in the bottom of the sixth the bats came alive. It started off with Luis Matos drawing a walk and then on a sinker Flores took Blach deep to center field giving San Francisco some life. With the game now 4-2 and the fans starting to make some noise Mitch Haniger stepped up to the plate. Blach then on a 2-2 pitch threw a changeup that caught the bottom of the zone that Haniger somehow managed to poke over the center field wall making it back-to-back home runs.

Just when the moment couldn’t seem to get any bigger J.D.Davis delivered by launching another one over the center field wall sending the crowd into a frenzy. The Giants had just hit back-to-back-to-back home runs which San Francisco hadn’t done since April 4th, 2016. With the game now tied Blach was pulled from the game and in his place came Matt Koch. Koch was able to get the next three batters out but the damage had already been done.

The seventh felt like a crash back down to earth as after two singles Elias Diaz smacked one to left field and over the wall making it 7-4. The culprit was Taylor Rogers who threw a sweeper that Diaz dug out and launched.

Looking for another spark in the seventh Mike Yastrzemski pinch hit for Joey Bart and delivered with a single. The home run derby then continued when Blake Sabol roped one to center field notching his 12th homer of the season and making it 7-6. That homer got Koch yannked from the game and replaced by Jake Bird who finished the inning only giving up a double to Matos.

Momentum continued to go the Giants way as in the eighth after Brandon Crawford and DeJong got on base Yastrzemski got Crawford home tying the game up at seven.

Camilo Doval came in to try and close the game and did not get off to a great start as he gave up a lead off single to Charlie Blackmon. Nolan Jones then got a double knocking in a run with two outs. After that Doval closed the game on a ground out giving the Giants the victory.

John Brebbia was given the win while Jake Bird took the loss.

The second game of this series will be tomorrow at 6:05 p.m.

San Francisco Giants day off report: Struggles Continue, SF looks to end six game skid Friday against Rockies

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Francisco Giants’ Luis Matos celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring on a double hit by Casey Schmitt during the seventh inning at Wrigley Field on Wed Sep 6, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

It was not so long ago that the San Francisco Giants seemed to have a clear shot at a post season spot. Everything offensively and defensively was working but lately there has been a major shift and not for the better.

Going all the way back to mid-August the Giants can see the decline. They dropped two series to the Braves, then it was the Phillies and then they won a series against the Reds. When it looked like things might be turning around, it didn’t.

The team went on the road starting with a four game series with the Padres. San Francisco did win the first game of that series but was manhandled in the next three games. Next the Cubs swept them and the Giants were looking at a six game losing streak. The team now heads home and the way things are going right now, home is looking pretty darn good.

A closer look reveals a lack of offensive production, as well as problems on the mound. The inability to hold onto leads has been obvious and come from behind wins, well for right now, just are not happening.

This team continuously finds a way to lose. Right now they are 70-70 and in danger of falling below .500. If the season ended today, there would be no wild card for the Giants this season. Thankfully the season has a bit more to go but it is waning with only 22 games and San Francisco cannot continue on the course that they are on right now.

So who is to blame? Right now there is plenty of blame to go around. Many players are struggling and they do have some promising rookies but they need time to mature. So who wants to be accountable for this decline.

So far the answer is no one. It’s hard to believe that the team’s batting average is .214 since the break. There is someone falling short in this conversation whether it is the players, the coaching or the front office. Someone is responsible for the downfall of this team.

They are in a free fall right now and how long will fans continue to support this uninspiring, and at times ugly baseball. It wasn’t that long ago that the Giants won 107 games in a season, that being 2021.

We have heard they’re still “in the hunt” ad nauseum. Offensively, this team needs to wake up the bats. They are not in a slump anymore, this is a trend and it could very well spell missing the playoffs this season.

Right now they are below average offensively with a high strikeout rate, the fourth worst in baseball. They have hit 136 homeruns this year which is 20th in baseball. The only bright spot is Wilmer Flores who is the exception on this team right now.

Leaving runners stranded has become commonplace. San Francisco is in a tough place right now and righting this ship has happen sooner rather than later because they are running out of later.

The Giants will begin a three game series with the Colorado Rockies Friday night. Colorado is a team that has struggled this season and San Francisco under most circumstances would be a favorite to win the series. The Giants will send Kyle Harrison to the mound with a 1-1 win/loss record and a 4.70 ERA. Ty Blach (2-1 ERA 4.33) will get the nod for Colorado with first pitch at 7:15PM.